Two neighbouring but distinct countries in western Asia. Iran is the larger, its main language is Persian, and its people are mostly Persian rather than Arab. Iraq is Arab-majority and Arabic-speaking. The similar spelling is a coincidence of transliteration — the names have entirely separate origins.
The core difference
They share a border and four letters, and almost nothing else about the names connects them.
- Iran — Persian-speaking, historically Persia; the majority population is ethnically Persian.
- Iraq — Arabic-speaking and Arab-majority, in the land historically called Mesopotamia.
Where the names come from
Iran derives from a phrase meaning "land of the Aryans", and the country was known internationally as Persia until it formally requested the change in 1935. Iraq is generally traced to an Arabic term for the alluvial lowlands along the lower Tigris and Euphrates, and has no etymological relationship to Iran at all. The near-identical spelling in English is an accident of how each was transliterated.
Language, which is the clearest divide
Persian and Arabic are not related languages — Persian is Indo-European, a distant cousin of English, while Arabic is Semitic. Persian is written in a modified Arabic script, which is why the two can look similar on the page while being unrelated in grammar and vocabulary. Iraq has a substantial Kurdish-speaking population; Kurdish, like Persian, is Indo-European.
Religion
Both countries are Muslim-majority, and both have Shia majorities — which distinguishes them from most of the Arab world, where Sunni Islam predominates. Iran is the larger Shia-majority country and is not Arab; Iraq is Arab and Shia-majority. Confusing the two is easy precisely because the usual shorthand of "Arab world" fits one and not the other.
The historic names worth knowing
- Persia — the former international name for Iran, still used for the empire, the language's older forms, and things like Persian rugs and cats.
- Mesopotamia — the ancient region between the Tigris and Euphrates, largely within modern Iraq, and one of the earliest centres of writing and cities.
Frequently asked questions
Are Iran and Iraq the same country?
No. They are separate neighbouring countries with different majority languages, different majority ethnic groups and unrelated name origins.
Do Iran and Iraq speak the same language?
No. Iran's main language is Persian, an Indo-European language; Iraq's is Arabic, a Semitic language. They are unrelated, though both use Arabic script.
Was Iran called Persia?
Yes. Persia was the international name until 1935, and it is still used for the historical empire and for things like Persian rugs and Persian cats.
Are Iranians Arabs?
Mostly not. The majority of Iranians are ethnically Persian. Iraq is Arab-majority.